There are no applications related hereto heretofore filed in this or in any foreign country.
My invention relates generally to land vehicles and more particularly to a safety type fastener for a ball and socket type hitch coupling a first propelling vehicle and a second towed vehicle.
When a first automotive type vehicle tows a second automotive type vehicle, especially such as a non-powered trailer, a hitch interconnecting the vehicles for effective operation must allow motion of each vehicle relative to the other in three mutually perpendicular planes while yet providing a strong, secure and safe interconnection. A common and popular hitch that accomplishes these ends is the so-called xe2x80x9cball and socketxe2x80x9d hitch that provides a spherical ball carried by a depending bolt for fastening on a rigid hitch bar carried by a first vehicle, commonly the towing vehicle, and a hitch structure, defining a hemispherical chamber to pivotally receive the ball, carried by a rigid hitch bar structurally interconnected to the towed vehicle. The hitch structure commonly provides a fastening arm that communicates with the associated ball at some portion of the hemispherical surface thereof that is not covered by the hemispherical chamber of the hitch to prevent the hitch from becoming accidentally disengaged from the ball.
This type of ball and socket hitch is simple of use, readily available, popular and widely used, especially with trailers of lower and medial gross weight. Notwithstanding its popularity, however, the ball and socket hitch is not completely reliable or safe in use as often the forces encountered in normal vehicle usage disengage the socket from the ball by disabling the fastening structure either by permanent or temporary reconfiguration. This problem has been recognized and dealt with in the past, most commonly by providing a secondary safety connection such as a chain between the propelling vehicle and towed vehicle to maintain interconnection of the vehicles. This solution, though operative, is not completely satisfactory because the interconnection of the two vehicles is more loose with a chain interconnection which prevents proper towing and steerage of the towed vehicle to make continued towing, especially on roadways, quite dangerous.
This problem has heretofore been recognized and responsively various auxiliary safety devices have become known to operatively maintain the hitch socket on the associated ball. These known safety devices have generally been designed for, and are only effectively operative on hitches for lighter towed vehicles. In the modern day, however, the trend in both propelling vehicles and towed vehicles has been toward heavier vehicles and a need has risen to provide a safety fastener for heavier vehicles that still allows use of a ball and socket type hitch. The instant invention seeks to provide such a safety fastener to fulfill this need.
The instant safety fastener provides a body defining a channel that completely surrounds a hitch beam on which it is carried, with the bolt carrying the hitch ball extending through the body and the hitch beam carried therein to rigidly and securely fasten the body on the hitch beam in an easily removable fashion. Most prior safety fasteners for lighter ball and socket hitches have not provided nor required such secure fastening of the safety fastener on the vehicle hitch bar.
Safety hitches that provide some structural element above the socket element of a ball and socket hitch to maintain interconnection of the socket hitch on the ball member have generally supported the structural element in a cantilever fashion, probably largely to prevent interference with motion of the socket element on the ball while yet allowing relatively free pivotal motion of either element relative to the other in three mutually perpendicular planes. The instant safety device in a first primary species provides two spacedly adjacent vertical arms carried in collars structurally supported by the hitch body for adjustable vertical motion with a horizontal fastening beam extending between the upper end portions of the vertical arms to provide a beam type element to restrain upward motion of the socket member of the hitch in a non-cantilevered fashion which provides substantial strength and rigidity. Subsequent experimentation allowed development of a second species of safety fastener having a single L-shaped fastening arm with a vertical leg carried in a collar structurally supported by the safety fastener body for vertical adjustment and a perpendicular horizontal fastening arm extending over the socket member. A particular disclosed construction for this second species of safety device develops approximately seventy-five percent of the strength of the beam type fastener of the first species and is somewhat more simple of construction and use.
Though most ball and socket hitches for automotive vehicles have developed somewhat of a standardized configuration, there still are configurational variances between the hitches of various manufacturers. To accommodate these differences and allow use of the instant safety fastener on a substantial number of ball and socket hitches, it is necessary to make provision for adjustable vertical positioning of the horizontal fastening arm of the safety fastener relative to its base. The instant safety fastener meets this requirement by providing collars structurally supported by the fastener body for each vertical fastening arm so that the vertical fastening arms of either species of fastener may slidably move within the collars for adjustable vertical positioning. A plurality of spaced vertical holes are defined in at least one of each collar or vertical arm body with at least one hole in the other element to allow a fastening pin to extend through a cooperating set of such opposed holes in both associated elements to releasably maintain adjustable vertical positioning of each vertical arm relative to the vertical arm collar carrying it. If desired, the vertical arm fastening pin may be of a headed type with a lock structure at the end distant from the head to allow locking of the pin in a cooperating set of adjustment holes to prevent unintentional removal of the socket element of a hitch from an associated ball and thusly prevent removal of a trailer from a propelling vehicle. Various prior safety fasteners have provided some means of adjusting the vertical position of a fastening arm relative to the hitch being fastened, but in general such prior fasteners have not used a pin and spaced hole type adjusting system with a key type lock to prevent unauthorized removal of the hitch elements from each other.
My invention resides not in any one of these features individually, but rather in the synergistic combination of all of its structures which necessarily give rise to the functions flowing therefrom.
The instant safety fastener for ball and socket hitches provides a base defining a channel of rectilinear cross-section to receive and fit about the hitch beam of a vehicle with vertically oriented holes defined in the body to cooperatively receive the fastening bolt of the hitch ball for releasable fastening of the hitch ball and the body of the hitch tongue. The base carries two laterally spaced vertically oriented arm collars each defining vertical channels to receive slidably vertical fastening arms of a fastener structure for adjustable positioning therein. Each collar defines at least one set of diametrically extending pin holes and each vertical fastening arm defines a plurality of axially spaced diametrically extending fastening holes to cooperatively receive fastening pins extending through selected paired sets of pin holes in each collar and the fastening arm carried therein for vertically adjustable fastening of the fastening arms in the carrying collars. The vertical fastening arms structurally carry a horizontal fastening beam, extending between their upper portion, for positioning over a portion of the hitch carried by the associated ball to prevent removal of the hitch from the ball. The fastening pins may be headed and carry a fastening device to prevent accidental removal of the pins from the collar carrying them and this fastening device optionally may be a lock type to prevent unauthorized removal of socket element from the ball of a hitch.
A second species of the safety fastener provides a body with only a single vertical arm collar adjustably carrying an L-shaped vertical arm for adjustable vertical fastening in the collar. A horizontal fastening arm extends from the lower portion of the vertical arm with a fillet extending between the inner part of the lower surface of the horizontal fastening arm to the adjacent surface of the upper portion of the vertical arm.
In creating such a device it is:
A principle object to provide a safety fastener for ball and socket type hitches interconnecting vehicles of medial to heavy gross weights.
A further object is to provide such a safety fastener that has adjustable features that allow use with various ball and socket hitches of present day commerce without reconfiguration of the safety fastener, ball and socket hitches or existing tongue beams of propelling or propelled vehicles.
A further object is to provide such a safety fastener that has a base carried by hitch beam of a propelling vehicle which in turn carries a vertically adjustable fastening beam extendable over the socket element of the hitch so that the fastening beam may be locked in place over the socket element of the hitch to prevent accidental or unauthorized removal, of the socket element from the associated ball.
A still further object is to provide such a safety fastener that is of new and novel design, of rugged and durable nature, of simple and economic manufacture and one otherwise well suited to the uses and purposes for which it is intended.
Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following specification and accompanying drawings which, form a part hereof. In carrying out the objects of my invention, however, it is to be understood that its essential features are susceptible of change in design and structural arrangement with only preferred practical embodiments of the best known modes being illustrated and specified as is required.